Phantom Will Close On Broadway; Final Performance to Be Filmed?

“As a producer you dream that a show will run forever. Indeed, my production of Andrew’s ‘Cats’ proudly declared for decades ‘Now and Forever.’ Yet ‘Phantom’ has surpassed that show’s extraordinary Broadway run. But all shows do finally close," Mackintosh added in the press release.

Thankfully, Mackintosh produced the spectacular 25th-anniversary production of Phantom that will forever remain available to stream and is regarded as one of the best captured staged concerts of all time (especially when compared with the empty-staged Les Miserables concerts).

Ramin Karmiloo (Funny Girl) and Sierra Boggess (The Little Mermaid) starred in the filmed production after originating the roles of Phantom and Christine in Love Never Dies in London's West End.

The filmed performance was released to cinemas in 2011 and was later made available as a DVD, Blu-ray, and digital download. The Royal Albert Hall production is considered by fans to be the ultimate version of Phantom after the disappointing 2004 film adaptation.

The question fans ask themselves is - will we get another filmed capture of The Phantom before the groundbreaking production leaves the Great White Way? 

The answer may lay in Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber's previous long-running hit musical, Cats.

While a proper "live" capture of Cats was released in 1998 starring Elaine Paige, it is a little-known fact that the iconic final performance of the show was filmed and broadcast live from London's New London Theatre.

On May 11th, 2002, Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Really Useful Group filmed the complete final performance utilizing multiple cameras at the show's original London home. The performance was edited live and broadcast on a large screen in Covent Garden for fans who could not acquire a ticket to the performance.

Experts from the filmed final performance were released during the show's 40th anniversary by The Really Useful Group, which always hesitated on releasing the full capture due to its low-quality and VHS feel. Watch the video below:

With technology now allowing the group to easily film Phantom as a high-quality capture (and enough experience that was gained through their many previous filmings), would Phantom follow the same path? We sure hope so.

Capturing Broadway's most iconic final performance after a run of 35 years is a no-brainer and something that a savvy producer such as Cameron Mackintosh is already thinking about, we feel.

More information on what is planned for the final Broadway performance of Phantom will be released later this year, stay tuned!

The first production of The Phantom of the Opera opened in London in 1986 and since has been seen by more than 145 million people across 183 cities and performed in 17 languages. On Broadway, the musical has played more than 13,500 performances to 19 million people at The Majestic Theatre. 

Many of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals have been filmed throughout the years and are now available to stream: The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Love Never Dies, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and more.